The Cruellest Month

The third atmospheric and ingenious crime novel in the Three Pines series, featuring the beloved Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, from number one New York Times bestselling author Louise Penny.

There is more to solving a crime than following the clues.
Welcome to Chief Inspector Gamache's world of facts and feelings.

It's Easter, and on a glorious Spring day in peaceful Three Pines, someone waits for night to fall. They plan to raise the dead . . .

When Chief Inspector Gamache of the Surete du Quebec arrives the next morning, he faces an unusual crime scene. A seance in an old abandoned house has gone horrifically wrong and someone has been seemingly frightened to death.

In idyllic Three Pines, terrible secrets lie buried, and even Gamache has something to hide. One of his own team is about to betray him. But how far will they go to ensure Gamache's downfall?

Ten million readers.
Three pines.
One inimitable Chief Inspector Gamache.

About the Author

Louise Penny is the number one New York Times bestselling author of the Inspector Gamache series, including Still Life, which won the CWA John Creasey Dagger in 2006. Recipient of virtually every existing award for crime fiction, Louise was also granted the Order of Canada in 2014 and received an honorary doctorate of literature from Carleton University and the Ordre Nationale du Quebec in 2017.

She lives in a small village south of Montreal.